Diatos NV focuses its research on anticancer prodrugs, based on one of Diatos’s two core technology platforms, known as tumor-selective prodrug technology (TSP). The funding of E650,000 over the next two years will be applied to extend the TSP concept to the development of cytokines prodrugs with anti-tumor activity.
Using Diatos’s proprietary TSP technology allows the targeted delivery of prodrugs to tumor sites, where a linker peptide is cleaved off and the active compound is released locally. It has several advantages over conventional chemotherapy, according to the company, including higher doses, reduced toxicity and increased efficacy.
“We are very pleased with this financial boost in our quest to develop safer and better cancer medicines,” said Dr Henk Snyman, managing director of Diatos NV. “The Flemish Institute for Science and Technology (IWT) grant and support further strengthens our ties with Flanders and our activities and profile in Belgium.”